Printing telegraph apparatus and attachment therefor



April 19, 1966 H. E. HOBBY ETAL 3,247,319

PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS AND ATTACHMENT THEREFOR Filed May 28, 19626 Sheets-Sheet 1 HAROLD E. HOBBY ROBERT C. BOSSERDET INVENTORS.

April 19, 1966 H. E. HOBBY ETAL 3,247,319

PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS AND ATTACHMENT THEREFOR Filed May 28, 19626 Sheets-Sheet 2 HAROLD E. HOBBY ROBERT C. B OSSE RDE T 2 INVENTORS. L

April 19, 1966 H. E. HOBBY ETAL PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS ANDATTACHMENT THEREFOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 28, 1962 Dm YRN Bfiw BSW0 E 0 mm OE HR jZwww April 19, 1966 H. E. HOBBY ETAL.

PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS AND ATTACHMENT THEREFOR Filed May 28, 19626 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS. HAROLD E. HOBBY BY ROBERT C. BOSSERDE T FIG.5

A ril 19, 1966 H. E. HOBBY ETAL PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS ANDATTACHMENT THEREFOR Filed May 28, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 6

EFII IIIIQI Ta R mm Y R N BE B W ow B C mm 0E mw HR April 19, 1966 H. E.HOBBY ETAL PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS AND ATTACHMENT THEREFOR FiledMay 28, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 HAROLD E. HOBBY ROBERT C. BOSSERDE TINVENTORS.

United States Patent ()flice 3,247,319 PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS ANDATTACHMENT THEREFUR Harold E. Hobby and Robert C. Bosserdet, Gardner,

Mass, assiguors to Simplex Time Recorder Company,

Gardner, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 28, 1962, Ser.No. 198,916 8 Claims. (Cl. 178-23) This invention relates to printingtelegraph apparatus and an attachment therefor, and more particularly toapparatus arranged to print messages received over wire by electricalimpulse and to form on the message sheet an indication of the date andtime at which the message was received.

In printing telegraph systems, as they are noW constructed, there is noprovision for indicating the date and time when a message was received.Messages are received by the apparatus at irregular time intervals andfor some purposes it is immaterial when a message was received. Forother purposes, however, such as the receipt of messages in the controlcenter of an airport, the time of receipt of the message can be quiteimportant. This is particularly true in connection with theinvestigation of accidents. Furthermore, attempts to modify existingequipment to stamp the date and time on the margin of the message tapehave been unsuccessful because of the limited space available within theenclosure of the standard apparatus. These and other difiicultiesexperienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novelmanner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide aprinting telegraph apparatus having provision f-or stamping the date andtime along a margin o'f the message tape.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an attachment for astandard printing telegraph apparatus which will automatically stamp thedate and time at one minute intervals on the message strip.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of anattachment for a printing telegraph apparatus for indicating the time ofreceipt of messages, which apparatus fits conveniently within theenclosure of a standard machine.

It is another object of the instant invent-ion to provide a time stampapparatus for use with a printing telegraph, which stamp apparatus movesinto association with the message strip only during the period of timeat which it is to stamp the strip.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a time stampapparatus for use on a printing telegraph, which apparatus operatesautomatically with a minimum of maintenance and which apparatus isprovided with a stamping motion permitting substantial movement underthe enclosure of the apparatus.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a timestamp apparatus having a novel means for changing the printingcharacters every minute.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a timestamp attachment having a novel means of supporting it for movementtoward and away from an operative area.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a time stampattachment for use in a standard printing telegraph machine whoseoperation takes place and is controlled by the standard elements in themachine to which it is attached.

3,247,319 Patented Apr. 19, 1966 With these and other objects in view,as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention residesin the combination of parts set forth in the specification and coveredby the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood byreference to one of its structural forms as illustrated by theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printing telegraph apparatus embodyingthe principles of the present inventron;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the important operating elements of theapparatus;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a time printing mechanism incorporatingthe principles of the invention;

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the time printing mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of electrical components of the time printingmechanism;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line VIVI of FIG. 2 andFIG. 7 is a perspective view of certain linkages of the apparatusseparated from other associated components for ease of understanding.

In a general Way, the present invention has to do with a printingtelegraph apparatus in which is incorporated a means for stamping thedate and time, including minutes, on the margin of the long, Widemessage strip which is used in such machines to record the messages.This type of machine is provided with a platen, and in front of thisplaten is located a print box containing several horizontal rows ofmovable type. In order to write a character the print box must be movedto a proper position in the vertical direction so that one of the fourhorizontal rows is in line with the curve of the platen. Then, the boxmust be moved longitudinally to locate the proper character in that row.A hammer strikes the character, impressing it on the paper through acarbon ribbon similar to a typewriter ribbon but wider. The ribbon,incidentally, moves up and down with the print box and, after the typingof a letter is accomplished, moves to a low position so that the printedcharacter can be seen. Naturally, the time stamp cannot be used duringthe period when the ribbon is in a low position because no impressionwould be made on the paper. Fundamentally, the present constructioninvolves a horizontal rail mounted more or less in the same level as theregular print box and in front of it. Slidably mounted on this rail (inthe manner of a mono-rail train) is a time printing mechanism which isfree to move horizontally. A first microswitch is provided for contactby a ribbon bar in the telegraph apparatus; this is a bar which moves upand down with the ribbon and, therefore, is an indication to the timeprinting mechanism that the ribbon is in the upper position and thatstamping may take place. The regular typing apparatus, as it moveshorizontally in front of the platen, also pushes the time printingmechanism along its horizontal rail to the right. A ratchet mechanism isprovided between the time printing mechanism and the rail so that themechanism remains at the right during all cycles except those cycles inwhich it stamps the time. This is done so that the regular messageprinting apparatus will not be forced continuously to push the timeprinting apparatus to the right along its track which would result inwear of the parts. Just before the timing motor resets the time stamp tothe next minute, the mechanism acts to release the ratchet so that thetime printing mechanism of the apparatus is free to move to the leftalong its track, being pulled in that direction by a spring. At thattime, the regular message printing box is operating at the left side ofthe paper so that the right hand margin of the paper is free. A secondmicroswitch in the circuit is operated when the time stamp apparatusarrives at its left position. At that time, the movement of the ribbonbar closes the microswitch, thus indicating to the time printingmechanism that it is free to stamp the time. The solenoid is closed andmechanical linkages operate from the solenoid plunger to drive the timestamp against the platen and to impress the characters on the paper.

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein are best shown the general featuresof the invention, the printing telegraph apparatus, indicated generallyby the reference numeral 10, is shown as consisting of a housing 11which contains, among other things, a sending-and-receiving unit 12having a keyboard 13. The housing 11 is provided with a cover 14 forgaining access to the sending-andreceiving unit 12. The cover isprovided with a slot 15 from which extends a paper message strip 16.

FIG. 2 shows the sending-and-receiving unit 12 as viewed from in frontof the machine with the cover 14 removed. The keyboard 13 extends alongthe lower portion of the unit, while the message tape 16 is shown asextending arounda horizontal cylindrical platen 17. In front of theplaten and the message strip 16 is located a type box 18 and in front ofthat is mounted a printing carriage 19 on which is mounted a printinghammer 21. Also mounted in front of the platen 17 is a time printingmechanism 22 having a supporting frame 23 on which is mounted a carriage24 which, in turn, carries a set of type wheels 25. The printingcarriage 19 is capable of movement back and forth across the front ofthe platen. The supporting frame 23 of the time printing mechanism 22 ismounted somewhat forwardly of the platen so that the printing carriagemay move behind the supporting frame. The supporting frame extends froman extreme right hand position (substantially removed from the righthand end of the platen 17) to a position somewhat left of the center ofthe platen. The carriage 24 is provided with an engagement element 26which is in line With an engageable nylon contact wheel 27 mounted atthe extreme right hand end of the printing carriage 19. Extending acrossthe front of the platen between the type box 18 and the message strip 16is a ribbon 28 which is carried by an apparatus 29 arranged in theconventional way to move the ribbon up between the type box 18 and themessage strip 16 at the time of printing but otherwise to maintain it ina lower position. Many other elements of the apparatus move insynchronization with this ribbon movement, one of them being theprinting hammer 21 and the apparatus which causes its movement, sinceprinting is to take place when the ribbon is in the upper position.standard elements which takes part in this movement is a ribbon bar 31which moves up and down. A contact lever 32 is pivoted to the printingcarriage 19 at one end and at the other end to thevertically-reciprocating ribbon bar; the contact lever is provided withan actuating washer 33. This washer is in alignment with an actuatinglever 34 extending to the left of a microswitch 35 which is mounted onthe carriage 24. Also shown in this view is a spring 36 extending fromthe extreme left hand side of the supporting frame 23 to the carriage 24and causing the carriage to tend to move to the left. Other importantelements of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 include a solenoid 37, a clockmotor 38, and a setup microswitch 39.

FIGS. 3 and.4 show some of the details of the time printing mechanism22. In FIG. 4 it can be seen that the supporting frame 23 consists of aright hand vertical post 41 adapted to be mounted at its lower end on aflat base in the telegraph apparatus 1i) and a left hand vertical post42 also adapted to be mounted in the ap- One of the paratus. The upperends of the posts are joined by a horizontal rail 43 in the form of athin metal strip mounted with the long dimension of its cross-sectionmounted vertically to provide a horizontal upper edge 44. The carriage24 consists generally of a metal plate mounted in a vertical plane andsupported on the upper edge 44 of the rail 43 by means of two wheels 45and 46. The carriage 24 is also provided with a wheel 47 which ridesalong the lower edge of the rail 43. Mounted on the carriage is thesolenoid 37, the clock motor 38, and the type wheels 25. Mounted on theleft hand vertical post 42 is the ribbon microswitch 35 in a generalhorizontal position, with its actuating lever 34 extending to the left.Bolted to the rail 43 in a generally vertical position and with anactuating member 48 extending generally vertically is the setupmicroswitch 39; it should be noted that the actuating lever 48 isprovided with a bow which bulges to the right. A pin 49 extendsforwardly from the left end of the rail 43 and to this is attached oneend of the spring 36 (most of which has been removed from FIG. 3). Theother end of the spring 36 is attached to the free end of a loop element51 which extends forwardly from the right end of the car riage 24 underthe lower edge of the rail 43 before extending upwardly again so thatits free end resides in front of the rail 43. It should be noted thatthe lower edge of the rail 43 is provided with a rack with triangularcutouts 52, these being engageable by the tooth 53 of a detent element54 on the carriage. Mounted on the front of the solenoid 37 is a latchbar 55 having an inclined upper edge 56 leading to a deep notch 57. Thebar 55 is located so as to pass just forwardly of the forward edge ofthe left hand vertical post 42. A latch finger SS is hingedly mounted onthe side of the post 42 by means of a pivot pin 59 and biased in thedownward direction by a coil spring 61. At its rear end the latch finger555 is provided with a horizontally-extending pin 62. Now, theengagement element 26 is pivoted at its right hand side in such a mannerthat, when it is engaged by the contact wheel 27 on the printingcarriage 19, its left hand side moves downwardly. Hanging from this lefthand side is a lever 63 having a forwardly directed finger that overliesthe pin 62 of the latch finger 53 in such a manner that, when thecontact element 26 is pivoted downwardly, the lever 63 strikes the pin62. The engagement element 26 is maintained in an upwardly biasedposition by a coil spring so that the lever 63 is normally in raisedposition.

Mounted at the top of the carriage 24 and extending above the level ofthe rail 43 is a secondary frame 64. This frame is provided with spacedvertical side walls 65 and 66 between which extends a shaft 67 on whichare mounted the type wheels 25. Mounted on this same shaft is a U-shapedsaddle 66 carrying pawls 69. The saddle is provided with ahorizontally-extending pin 71 which is engageable with a slot '72 formedin the end of an actuating lever 73. The type wheel 25, the saddle overwhich the secondary frame 64 is swingably mounted,

this mounting taking place by means of levers 75 and 76 which aresuitably pivoted to the platform 74 at their lower ends and to thesecondary frame 64 at their upper ends. Also associated with this partof the apparatus is a U-shaped frame 77 whose bight extends across thefront of the secondary frame slightly above the rail 43. The legs of theframe 77 extend rearwardly and are provided with broad extensions whichare connected tQ act. s

levers 78 and 79 which extend parallel, respectively, to the levers 75and 76; they are suitably connected at their top portions to thesecondary frame as on the one hand, and at their lower portions to theplatform 74, on the other hand. Pivotally attached at its upper end tothe U- shaped frame 77 is a vertical actuating lever 31 whose lower endis attached to the plunger 32 of the solenoid 37. A strong coil spring(not shown) extends from the upper part of the sidewall 65 of thesecondary frame 64 to the platform 74 to maintain the type wheels 25normally in a forward position.

Mounted on the inside surface of the left hand vertical post 42 is ablock 84 of rubber or similar resilient material which is in line forengagement by the side of the solenoid 37 as the carriage moves to theleft. Mounted on the right hand post 41 is an electrical connection box85 from which extends a three-wire flexible lead 86. Rigidly attached tothe plunger 82 of the solenoid is a support finger 87 having ahorizontal portion extending parallel to the rail 43, which portionterminates in a vertical portion providing an upper edge 88 on whichrests a finger 89 which will be described more fully hereinafter butwhich is generally aligned with the bow of the actuating lever 48associated with the microswit-ch 39.

Referring to FIG. 5, which shows a wiring diagram for the electricalapparatus in the time printing mechanism 22, it can be seen that theribbon microswitch 35 and the setup microswitch 39 are in series withone another, one side of each being connected by a line 91. The otherside of the microswitch 35 is connected by a line 92 to a binding post93 of the electrical box 85. The other side of the switch 39 isconnected by a line 94 to one side of the coil 95 of the solenoid 37 Theother side of the coil 95 is connected by a line 96 to a second bindingpost 97 of the box 85. A third binding post 98 of the box 85 isconnected by a line 99 to one side of the coil of the clock motor 38,the other side being connected by a line 101 to the binding post 93.Across the binding posts 93 and 96 is connected a capacitor 192 toreduce sparking across contacts. The binding posts 93 and 97 areconnected to a source of 120 volt, 6O cycle electricity made up of theteletype panel strip 103. The lines 101, 99, and 96 make up a three-wireflexible lead 86. A jumper extends from the binding post 97 to thebinding post 98.

FIG. 6 shows the operation of many of the elements from the side viewand, particularly, shows the manner in which the time printing mechanism22 is operable within the housing 11 despite the closeness of the cover14. The motor 38 is provided with an output shaft 104 which makes onerevolution per minute. On this shaft is keyed a pinion gear 165 whichhas at least one tooth removed. Engaging this gear is a gear segment 1%which is pivoted to the end of the motor housing by means of a pivot pin107. Bolted to the gear segment is a plate 163 which is biased in theupward direction by a coil spring 1119 which connects the plate 1% tothe upper part of the motor housing. Located on the end of the housingof the motor 38 is a stop pin 125 which limits the rotation of the plate1113 under the impetus of the spring 1%. The removal of at least onetooth from the pinion gear 1&5 is such that, combined with the slightcurvature of the gear segment 1%, the gear segment is permitted to movepast the pinion gear without driving engagement therewith when thesection of the pinion gear 1115 from the tooth is removed faces the gearsegment. The actuating lever 73 is pivoted at its lower end to the plate198 and, of course, its upper end is provided with the slot 72 engagingthe pin 71 in the saddle 68.

In FIG. 7 it can be seen that the actuating lever 73 is also providedwith a horizontally-extending pin 111 which lies between spaced parallelforwardly-directed fingers 112 and 113 extending from the right hand endof a lever 114 which is pivotally attached by a pivot pin 115 to thecarriage 24. Pivoted on this same pivot pin is the detent element 54which is also provided with a for wardly-directed pin 116 under which ispressed a wire spring 117 which is looped around the pivot pin of thewheel 47. The spring acts on the detent element 54 so that it is biasedin an upward direction but is released very quickly. The right hand endof the wire spring 117 underlies the finger 113 and is engageable by itin a lower position.

The left hand free end of the lever 114 is pivotally attached to theupper end of a connecting link 118, the lower end of which is attachedto the outer end of an arm of a beiicrank 119. The bellcrank is pivotedto the carriage by means of a pivot pin 121 and is provided with aforwardlyand upwardly-directed finger 122 to the free upper end of whichis pivoted one end of the finger 89. The finger 89 is provided with anotch defining a vertical edge 123 which is directed to the right and ahorizontal edge 12.4 which is adapted to rest on the upper edge 88 ofthe support finger 87 (see FIG. 3). A spring 126 extends from the finger89 to the bellcrank 119 to hold the finger in its downward positionagainst the edge 88.

The operation of the apparatus will now be readily understood in view ofthe above description. Referring to FIG. 2, the printing carriage 19moves to-and-fro across the front of the platen 17 and in tfront of themessage strip 16. In the normal procedure of typing messages, the righthand margin of the strip is free of message material and so is availablefor the printing of date and time. In FIG. 2, the type wheels 25 areshown in position overlying the right hand margin of the message stripand they have just finished making an impression on the message. Thetype box 18 and the printing carriage 19 are at the left. As they moveto the right, the hammer 21 strikes the various types in the type box 18and impresses the characters on the message strip. The ribbon apparatusmoves the ribbon up and down so that the ribbon lies between the typebox and the message strip on the platen 17 during the printing operationbut is lowered between typing operations so that the operator can seewhat has just been printed. As the ribbon is moved up and down in thismanner, the bar 31 also moves up and down and carries with it the lever32 and its washer 33. As the printing carriage 19 moves to the right,eventually the contact wheel 27 engages the engagement element 26 andmoves along its inclined surface. This has the effect of moving thecarriage 24 to the right along the supporting frame 23. First of all,however, the downward pressure on the engagement element 26 causes it topivot in opposition to the pressure of the spring 60 (FIG. 4) so thatthe lever 63 moves downwardly and its finger engages and pushes downwardon the pin 62 of the latch finger 58. The latch finger moves upwardlyand out of the notch 57 in the latch bar 55, thus releasing thecarriage, and the carriage is free to move along the rail 43. The wheels45 and 46 roll along the upper edge 44 of the rail and the lower wheel47 prevents the carriage from leaving the rail. The detent element 54 isbiased in the upward direction by the spring 117 and the tooth 53 movesfrom one cutout 52, to another. Eventually, when the printing carriage19 is in its extreme right hand position (typing the right hand end ofthe message line), the carriage 24 is also in its right hand positionalong the rail 43 with the tooth 53 of the detent engaging one of thecutouts 52. The carriage 24 is, thus, locked in the right-hand position.The printing carriage 19 and the type box 18, however, move back to theleft and continue their to-and-fro move ment over the message stripwhile typing the message. In the meanwhile, the clock motor 38 rotatesits output shaft 104- at the rate of 1 r.p.m. Referring to FIG. 7, asthe shaft rotates it rotates the pinion gear which drives the gearsegment 1% so that it pivots about its pivot pin 107 and carries theplate 1% with it. This moves the actuating lever in a downward directionand the downward movement is transmitted to the pin 71 of the saddle 68.Before (about 7 seconds) the gear segment and actuating lever 73 reachthe last tooth of' the mutilated pinion (shown clearly in FIG. 4), thepin 111 (FIG. 7) trips the lever 54 due to toggle action spring 117 andallows carriage 24 to move to the left. Eventually, the shaft rotates tothe point where the missing tooth arrives opposite the gear segment and,since the gear segment is no longer engaged by the tooth or preventedfrom moving under the impetus of the spring it rotates quickly in thereverse direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 6) until it engages the pin125. This rapid motion is transmitted through the actuating lever 73 andthe pin 71 to the saddle 63. The rapid reverse motion of the saddlecauses the pawls 69 to engage corresponding toothed wheels associatedwith the type wheels 25 to index the wheels in the well-known manner, sothat the wheels show a time which is one minute greater than theprevious time setting. The wheels are now in condition to type a newtime on the message strip during the period from the 53rd to the 60thsecond.

While the gear segment 1% is rotating in a clockwise direction (due tothe driving action of the pinion 105) and the actuating lever '73 isbeing drawn downward in a generally vertical direction, the pin 111 onthe actuating lever is pressing against the upper surface of the finger113 of the lever 114. This causes the lever to rotate in a clockwisedirection (according to FIG. 7) about its pivot pin 115. Eventually, thebottom edge of the finger 113 strikes the spring 117 (whose other end isheld by engagement with the pin 115) and causes the intermediate portionof the spring to press against the detent element 54 to bias -it in aclockwise direction about the pivot pin 115. This motion causes the slowbuildup of pressure on the tooth 53 which tends to bias it for movementfrom the cutout 52 and, a short time before the gear segment 106 rotatesrapidly in a counter-clockwise direction, the tooth is entirely removedquickly from the cutout so that the carriage is released from its latchand the spring 36 carries it to the left. The carriage moves rapidly tothe left along the rail 43 and, eventually, the left hand side of thesolenoid 37 engages the rubber bumper 84 so that the carriage occupiesthe position shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. While the detent element 54 hasbeen moved downwardly to release the latching tooth 53, the link 118 hasbeen drawn upwardly, thus moving the bellcrank 119 in acounter-clockwise direction about its pivot pin 121. This has caused thefinger 89 to move to the left (see FIG. 3) until it extends to the leftbeyond the surface 88 of the support finger 87 a sufiicient distance sothat when the carriage moves to the left after the release of the latchthis finger engages the bow of the actuating lever 48 of the setupmicroswitch 39 and closes it. In the meantime, the printing carriage 19has been moving to the right (in the vicinity of the left margin) andseveral characters have been impressed by the type box 18 on the messagestrip 16. In this position, after a few of the characters have beentyped, the lever 32 has moved to the right with the carriage to such aposition that the washer 33 engages the actuating lever 34 of the ribbonmicroswitch 35. The

apparatus then is in such a condition that the finger 89 is pressedagainst the actuating lever 48 of the microswitch 39 while the finger 33moves downwardly and closes the microswitch 35. In this position,current is free to pass from the binding post 93 through the line 92,through the microswitch 35, through the line 91, through the microswitch 39, through the line 94, through the coil 95 of the solenoid 37,and through the line 96 to the binding post 97 which is connected to thebinding post 98; is in this condition of the elements current flowsthrough the solenoid coil 95 and actuates the solenoid. The solenoidplunger 82 moves upwardly carrying with it the actuating lever 81. Theupward'movement of the lever causes the U-shaped frame 77 to pivot aboutits pivotal connection to the platform 74. This carries its leverportions 78 and 79 about that same pivot and moves the secondary frame64 in a swinging-action. This swinging is controlled by the levers and76, which connect the platform 74 to the secondary frame 64. The upwardmovement of the solenoid plunger takes place very rapidly so that thesecondary frame 64 swings forwardly toward the platen 17 at a high rateof speed and with substantial force. The type wheels 25 are brought intocontact with the elements overlying the platen 17. These elements arenot only the message strip 16 but also the ribbon which, it will berecalled, is in its upper position (in which position the bar 31 is inits lower position carrying the washer 33 of the lever 32 into that lowposition with it). An impression of date and time, therefore, is made onthe message strip.

As is evident from the drawings and the description, the time is changedby the rapid upward movement of the actuating lever 73 when the gearsegment 106 snaps back to its original position, This is arranged totake place just after the solenoid is actuated. In order to prevent thelever 32 in its up-and-down motion from closing the microswitch $5 (andactuating the time stamping function) several times before themicroswitch 39 can be opened, the upward movement of the plunger of thesolenoid carries the supporting finger 87 upwardly, thus causing thefinger ii? to be driven upwardly over the top of the bow of theactuating lever of the microswitch 39. The finger 89 no longer pressesagainst the most right hand part of the actuating element, so that themicroswitch is opened and the finger is held out of position. However,the quick return action of the gear segment 106 operates through thelever 73, the lever 114, the link 1118, and the bellcrank 119 to movethe finger 89 quickly to the right. The lowering of the solenoid plungerlowers the edge 58 of the support finger 87 so that the finger is freeto drop under the impetus of the spring 126. The finger is by that timein a position which is located substantially to the right of theactuating element 48 of the microswitch 39. Therefore, if themicroswitch 35 is closed several times, this does not cause a printingstroke of the type wheels 25. The carriage Z4 rests in this positionuntil the printing carriage 19 arrives moving to the right and thecontact wheel 27 again strikes the engagement element 26 to initiate anew cycle.

It will be understood that, if the message being printed consists ofvery short lines, the printing mechanism will not move far enough to theright to push the time print mechanism to the right-hand, inoperativeposition. In that case, the time print mechanism remains in thelefthand, operative position and the mechanism goes through repeatedcycles, one every minute. This means that the time will be printed onthe right-hand margin of the message tape in the same manner as has beendescribed above. The cycled movement of the finger 89 assures that bothswitches will be in closed condition simultaneously only once in anyone-minute cycle.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the material spiritthereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to theexact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include allsuch as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new anddesired to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A printing telegraph apparatus, comprising (a) a horizontalcylindrical platen,

(b) a message printing mechanism associated with the platen and movablefrom one end to the other therealong,

(c) a ribbon movable from an inoperative position to an operativeposition interposed between the message printing mechanism and theplaten,

(d) a time printing mechanism associtaed with the platen and movablefrom a first position adjacent one end of the platen to a secondposition removed from the platen, the time printing mechanism in- 9eluding an actuator for causing it to strike the platen, and

(e) means permitting the actuator to operate only when the time printingmechanism is in the first posi tion and the ribbon is in the operativeposition,

2. A printing telegraph apparatus, comprising (a) a horizontalcylindrical platen,

(b) a message printing mechanism associated with the platen and movablefrom one end to the other therealong,

(c) a ribbon movable from an inoperative position to an operativeposition interposed between the message printing mechanism and theplaten,

(d) a time printing mechanism including clock-driven type wheelsassociated with the platen and movable from a first position adjacentone end of the platen to a second position removed from the platen, thetime printing mechanism including an electrical actuator for causing itto strike the platen, and

(e) means including a first switch permitting the actuator to operateonly when the time printing mechanism is in the first position and asecond switch permitting the actuator to operate only when the ribbon isin the operative position.

3. A time printing mechanism for use with a printing telegraph apparatushaving a horizontal platen, comprising (a) a base,

(b) a horizontal supporting rail at least part of which isnon-coextensive with the platen and which is rigidly mounted asubstantial distance above the base, the rail having anupwardly-directed guiding surface,

(c) a carriage on which are mounted type wheels, a

printing stroke actuator, and a clock motor,

((1) wheels mounted on the carriage and rolling on the said guidingsurface to carry the type wheels from an operative position adjacent oneend of the platen at one end of the rail to an inoperative positionsubstantially removed from the platen at the other end of the rail, theactuator and the clock motor being mounted on the carriage below thewheels.

4. A time printing mechanism, comprising (a) a supporting frame,

(b) type wheels mounted on a carriage, the carriage being mounted on thesupporting frame for rectilinear movement from an operative position atwhich printing may take place to an inoperative position,

(c) means biasing the carriage for rapid movement from the inoperativeposition to the operative position ((1) a resilient bumper which isinterposed between the carriage and the supporting frame when thecarriage reaches the operative position at the end of the rapidmovement, and

(e) a latching means adapted to lock the carriage and the supportingframe together when the carriage arrives at the operative position tosuppress any tendency to bounce because of the bumper.

5. A time printing mechanism for use in a printing telegraph apparatushaving a platen and a print box movable back and forth therealong,comprising (a) a supporting frame,

(b) type wheels mounted on a carriage, the carriage being mounted on thesupporting frame for rectilinear movement from an operative positionadjacent one end of the platen at which printing may take place to aninoperative position substantially removed from the platen, the carriagebeing moved from the operative position to the inoperative position bythe print box, an element of the print box engaging a finger on thecarriage,

(c) a spring extending between the frame and the carriage biasing thecarriage for rapid movement from the inoperative position to theoperative position,

((1) a resilient bumper mounted on the supporting frame to be struck bythe carriage when the carriage 5 reaches the operative position at theend of the rapid movement,

(e) a latching means adapted to lock the carriage and the supportingframe together when the carriage arrives at the operative position tosuppress any tendency to bounce because of the bumper, and

(f) means associated with the finger on the carriage to release thelatching means when the print box pushes the carriage.

6. A time printing mechanism, comprising (a) a supporting frame,

(b) a carriage mounted on the frame for rectilinear movement from afirst position to a second position,

(c) type wheels mounted on the carriage,

(d) a clock motor mounted on the carriage and connected to the typewheels for indexing thereof,

(e) a solenoid having a coil mounted on the carriage and connected tothe type wheels to move them on a printing stroke,

(f) a first normally-open switch in series with the coil of thesolenoid, the first switch being closed when a printing conditionexists, and

(g) a second normally-open switch in series with the coil and with thefirst switch and closed when the carriage is in the first position, thesimultaneous closing of the two switches causing energization of thesolenoid coil and the occurrence of a printing stroke.

7. A time printing mechanism for use with a printing telegraph apparatushaving a platen and an element which moves up and down relative to theplaten, in synchronization with the ribbon, comprising (a) a supportingframe,

(b) a carriage mounted on the frame for rectilinear movement from afirst position to a second position,

(c) type wheels mounting on the carriage,

(d) a clock motor mounted on the carriage and connected to the typewheels for indexing thereof, a finger mounted on the carriage andconnected to the clock motor to be extended thereby a short time beforethe type wheels are indexed,

(e) a solenoid having a coil mounted on the carriage and connected tothe type wheels to move them on a printing stroke,

(f) a first normally-open switch in series with the coil of thesolenoid, the first switch being closed by the said element which issynchronized with the ribbon,

(g) a second normally-open switch in series with the coil and with thefirst switch and closed by engagement with the finger on the carriage inits extended position when the carriage is in the first position, thesimultaneous closure of the two switches causing energization of thesolenoid coil and the occurrence of a printing stroke.

8. A time printing mechanism for use with a printing 60 telegraphapparatus having a platen, comprising (a) a supporting frame located infront of the platen,

(b) a carriage mounted on the frame for rectilinear movement from afirst position at one end of the platen to a second positionsubstantially removed therefrom,

(c) type wheels mounted on the carriage,

(d) a clock motor mounted on the carriage and connected to the typewheels for indexing thereof,

(e) a finger mounted on the carriage and connected to the clock motor tobe extended thereby,

(f) a latch mounted on the carriage and engageable with the supportingframe to retain the carriage in the second position, the clock beingconnected to the latch for the release thereof, for completing theextension of the finger, and for indexing the type Wheels atpredetermined time intervals.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Armbruster et a1.34689 Doty 34659 Doty 346-59 Rast 346-89 NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

M. MORRISON, Examiner.

A. LERNER, T. A. ROBINSON, Assistant Examiners.

1. A PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS, COMPRISING (A) A HORIZONTALCYLINDRICAL PLATEN, (B) A MESSAGE PRINTING MECHANISM ASSOCIATED WITH THEPLATEN AND MOVABLE FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER THEREALONG, (C) A RIBBONMOVABLE FROM AN INOPERATIVE POSITION TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION INTERPOSEDBETWEEN THE MESSAGE PRINTING MECHANISM AND THE PLATEN, (D) A TIMEPRINTING MECHANISM ASSOCIATED WITH THE PLATEN AND MOVABLE FROM A FIRSTPOSITION ADJACENT ONE END OF THE PLATEN TO A SECOND POSITION REMOVEDFROM THE PLATEN, THE TIME PRINTING MECHANISM INCLUDING AN ACTUATOR FORCAUSING IT TO STRIKE THE PLATEN, AND (E) MEANS PERMITTING THE ACTUATORTO OPERATE ONLY WHEN THE TIME PRINTING MECHANISM IS IN THE FIRSTPOSITION AND THE RIBBON IS IN THE OPERATIVE POSITION.